Ah, Charlotte BORTLE - you're my mystery 3rd great-grandmother on my mother's side. You appear married with my 3rd great-grandfather, Grover BUELL (who was b. 1794, Northumberland, NY) on many censuses and then you're buried with him. What do I know about you? Very little.
You were apparently born 10 Oct 1797 or 1798 in (unknown) but usually listed as NY state on some documents. I have no idea at all about your parents nor where they come from, as those early census records do not show such details. You and Grove had 5 children: 4 girls, and only one boy.
But, there you are, on the 1820 Census for Northumberland, Saratoga, New York, married with two little girls, with Grover BUELL. The two girls were as follows
(a) Mary, b. 18 Jan 1816 who later married John W. Patterson in Aug 1843 and had 4 children: Charlotte, Grover Buell, Thomas Duane, and Harriet Hattie Malvina; and,
(b) Sally, b. 4 Feb 1819, who died aged 7 on 29 Aug 1826.
Ann Janette was their third little girl, b. 15 Dec 1822 in Northumberland; she married Benjamin Baird in 1842 and had 2 sons, William Hulbert & Simon Melvin Baird.
Only two of their children were still living at home with them by 1850:
- the only boy, Simon, b. 13 Feb 1827, who married on 15 Oct 1851 Julia Adelle Wyckoff, b. 7 Dec 1827 NY, in Skaneateles;
- and my ancestor, the youngest girl, Harriet "Hattie", b. 27 Jan 1829 in Lysander, who married in 1851 to James M. TERWILLIGER.
Charlotte, on the 1850 census for Lysander, NY, you were shown as 53 years of age, with husband Grove BUEL (common spelling at the time), who was 55. He's listed as Farmer, with land valued at $1,400, and states he was born in NY state. For you? There's not even a mark to indicate "ditto" - nothing at all. Wouldn't that have been useful?
You continued to be seen on Lysander censuses living with your husband, Grove. On the 1870 Census, Grove was listed as a Retired Farmer, with land valued at $23,000, and personal value $18,000. Only a few years later however, we find your husband deceased 18 Feb 1874 in Lysander, and buried shortly after in the Lysander Union Cemetery, Lysander, Onondaga, New York.
Charlotte, you survived several more years after Grove, and died 22 Set 1879 in Lysander, being buried with Grover in the Lysander Union Cemetery.
The Bortle name in various spellings is not very common. It is considered to be either a variant of a Dutch name - Bortell/van Bortell - or from the German, Bartel. There were apparently two groups of Bortle families around the early 1800: living in New York state, and another group living in and around Reheboth MA. Perhaps your parents came from MA? Unless one of your children's children and their descendants have a wonderful clue about you, and share it online, I'll likely never know. But I'll keep looking... perhaps something will turn up.
I have found that there is another Charlotte Bortle roughly the same age who married a gentleman named Daniel - a different Charlotte, unfortunately. But, perhaps they were cousins?
If you have any information on my particular Charlotte BORTLE do let me know by emailing me or leaving a comment. calewis at telus dot com will reach me.
4 comments:
Those female ancestors seem to make for tricky searching. It looks like you have uncovered quite a bit on the family. Hope this posts helps you connect with some Bortle relatives!
Thanks for your comments, Patricia. Charlotte is quite a challenging woman - I even had a 4th or 5th cousin in New England digging around trying to find out anything else, walking through some of the graveyards containing other Buel or Buell people, particularly if there was even a whisper of a Bortle! No luck. (so far).
Celia, I loved how you talked to Charlotte, and she wasn't very thoughtful in not sharing her birth state in 1850, but what about 1860 and 1870? Your post was enjoyable. There are a lot of Buells in Connecticut, I believe that's where the line began, but it's generations before your NY line. I sure hope a clue comes your way.
She's always listed as born in NY state... but I haven't been able to figure out who her parents were, and her surname could be spelled a number of ways of course. Occasionally I dig around again to see what I can find! As for the Buell line, my first immigrant (abt 1630)was a William Buel/Bewel/Bevill, bap. 17 Feb 1604/5 in Chesterton England, and settled in Windsor, CT, after marrying Mary POST. I'm sure there are many many descendants on this Buell line!! Thanks for commenting.
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